ROTHBURY — The Rothbury village council had a lengthy discussion about what to do about zoning violations it says the Green Lawn mobile home park's owner has committed at Tuesday's monthly meeting, but no direct action was taken.
The council has been in contact with its attorney, Brennen Gorman of Parmenter Law, about the next steps after a certified letter the village sent the Green Lawn owner, who was not named and whose name is not publicly available, came back unanswered. The council said Gorman has advised hiring a process server to deliver a letter to the Green Lawn owner.
The council's options appear to be somewhat limited. Police chief Ethan Walker offered that in his experience, courts do not care to deal with disputes about zoning violations. Attempts to get in contact with the owner seem unlikely to get anywhere as the owner is not local and has proven hard to contact.
The council also engaged in a long discussion about the village budget; a public budget meeting is set for March 18 at 6:30 p.m. prior to the monthly council meeting. Among the items discussed was the possibility of the council members eschewing their monthly stipends - according to trustee Denise Kurdziel, each is paid $10 per meeting - to allow for slight raises to be given to clerk Brandy Williams and treasurer Deb Murphy, whom Kurdziel says deserves them. The budget has not yet been approved, with that expected in the March 18 meeting.
Murphy, in turn, asked the council for ideas on suitable honors for Carol Witzke, the village's former clerk who is set to be the new zoning board secretary, and the late Anna Priese, longtime village treasurer, for their service to Rothbury. Witzke, who was in attendance, said she liked one suggestion of a plaque that would be placed on a bench in the village, possibly the one near Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church (Priese was also secretary there). No formal action was taken, however.
The council voted 6-0 - trustee Jim Fekken was not present - to authorize road closures surrounding the Electric Forest music festival, scheduled to take place June 19-22. The village was also asked to contribute $168.49 to the county's annual hazardous waste disposal day, which is in August. The council did not act on that request; Harris said very few Rothbury residents participated in the event last year, and municipal contribution to the event is not required to allow residents to participate.
